Operation: FACTORY RAID
By Chris000
November 22nd 3238
UNSC Midsummer Night (FFG-727)
En route to Cygnus Epsilon 56 system
Master Sergeant Jonathon Callard entered the barracks onboard the Night. Inside sat his squad of loyal ODSTs (Orbital Drop Shock Troopers). Each one was of different nationality and indeed; one was of an entirely different species. Callard stood akimbo and barked, "Helljumpers, Ten HUT!" The Special Forces Marines hopped to their feet and abandoned what they were doing. They each snapped to attention. When Callard saw that his men had preformed sufficient salutes, he brought his own hand up to his green beret. Not a single black lock of hair poked through the front.
"Now sound off maggots!" He barked with a profound Australian accent. From left to right, the three other troopers addressed themselves: "Joe Martinez, Corporal!" The first answered with a strong voice. Martinez was an example of a prime Helljumper. He was from Mexico City back on Earth. He was very skilled with explosives and was also an accomplished combat medic. Callard looked past this irony when Martinez had entered his squad.
"Thomas Lucas, Private First Class, sir!" Lucas was a Mobian. He was the only Mobian in Callard's squad. As a squirrel, Lucas had trounced everyone at basic back on Parris Island. Callard just had to have him. Since he was the only anthro in the squad, little Tommy Lucas was quite often picked on by his peers. Being in the ODSTs just made the matter worse. The reason? Helljumpers were brutal. Some of these men and women had criminal records on them and were doing hard time in the Corps. Lucas was the exact polar opposite of everyone. He was kind, didn't lash back at his officers and truth be told, he was kind of a charmer. And damn, were his salutes good. He added a little flourish to them and they were unique each time.
"At ease, son." Callard said with a small nod. He turned his head to the last Helljumper. "Wilhelmina Maybell, Staff Sergeant!" Wilhelmina or 'Billy' as she liked to be called was the model soldier for the women in the Corps. Her record was spotless, she served in a few campaigns and she earned her fair share of medals and ribbons. Her arm was as stiff as a statue when she did her salute.
"What the fuck is this? Is this all that's left of my beautiful squad? I turn my back for a few moments and three more men are gone?" Billy spoke, "Well, Jon. We lost Raymond, Phidelpha, and Lawrence back at the Pegassi colony about a week ago. You did read the report I wrote?" Callard nodded. He remembered now. The fat slab of a doctor Eggman was making his mark on the human universe once again. He was rallying support too. A few sects of the ancient Covenant Hegemony was still out for human blood and with Robotnik at their side, they were doing a hell of a job. Pegassi was barely won back with two regiments of UNSC marines. Nearly a quarter of them died to retake the colony. With them went three members of Callard's squad. He looked aside that for now and got straight to business.
"Now, my humble men, I have with me orders that just came in from command! They highlight out next mission which will take place on the planet we are orbiting at this moment!" A hologram snapped on. "This is Vert. Population two hundred and seventy five thousand. It is named so by French colonists because of its tropical forests.
"Now, ONI has recently discovered the location of a factory. There are no civilian companies that own this building so we have to assume that it belongs to Eggman. Our objective: blow the place to hell." Lucas raised a hand. "Yes, Private?" "Sir, were we the first choice for this mission?" Callard looked slightly amused.
"Not by a long shot, Lucas. About five days ago, the governor sent a small force of colonial militia to assault the building. They didn't get closer than 500 yards of the place. Completely wiped out." Billy's lip twitched a little. Callard went on, "Two days later, a battalion of UNSC Marines arrive in system. They do considerably better: the force got within 20 yards of the wall before calling a retreat. 600 men go in, 220 come out. Casualty percentage: 64 per cent eliminated." Lucas' ears twitched and he mouthed 'ouch'. "So what the fuck are we going in there for, Sarge?" Martinez asked quickly. "Command got something against us?"
Callard laughed a little. "Fuck Command. This is a black op." Lucas smiled. "That's my favorite color, Sarge." "Nobody knows about what's going down, clear?" Nods. "Good. Now, I know what the casualty reports said. I know a lot of families will miss those men. But seeing how you guys did at Pegassi, I'm confident we can blow this place to smaller pieces than we can count." Maybell said, "Jon, we lost three men at P-" he held up a hand. "I know! They were good kids but Henry, Josh, and Marco WEREN'T thinking clearly. Their heads were filled with so much shit it clouded their judgment. They shouldn't have gone up against those berserkers. We already saved those people. We're gonna make up for that today."
He tapped a few buttons on the hologram projector. "OK, Command has located a blind spot in the factory's defenses. About halfway around the facility, there's a dock that goes out into the water. I don't want to risk a splashdown landing so we're going down just a klick from the thing. We slip into the water, swim the rest of the way and we're in."
"Sounds too simple." Billy responded. Callard looked up. "It's as simple as it sounds. No shitting. Our primary objective is a fuel distribution center located in the bowels of this God-forsaken place. We don't know what the thing actually looks like so we're gonna have to play some I-Spy here. Eggman is not our target, but if he somehow gets into your sights, take him out. I want to see if he pops or explodes. Evac will be by Pelican. In and out. Drop's in 30. Gear up, Helljumpers. Dismissed." The solders crowed, "YES, SIR" and saluted.
